Responding to a School Crisis

The immediate goals of school staff after a crisis are to reestablish a sense of safety and restore the learning environment at the school. The first step is to ensure that the building and grounds of the school are secure and well monitored so that students and staff can regain a sense of trust and safety.

To achieve these goals, each member of the school community must work both individually and as a member of a team to take the steps needed to restore balance to the school environment. Positive working relationships among school staff not only achieve the goal of recovery from a school crisis, but the staff's actions provide positive role models for students and life-long lessons about how to conduct oneself during times of adversity.

(The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, through Congressional action, has made funding available under the auspices of Project SERV (School Emergency Response to Violence). Project SERV specifically funds "education-related services to local education agencies in which the learning environment has been disrupted" due to a sudden, unexpected or violent event that may involve physical harm and fear. Once a school's application is submitted and approved, the "education-related services" may include intermediate and longer-term mental health recovery efforts necessary to restore the learning environment of the school.)